A magnitude 5.1 earthquake rocked northern Taiwan yesterday afternoon, just a day after two other temblors exceeding magnitude 5 hit the same area off the northeastern coast.
A magnitude 4.0 aftershock occurred 19 minutes later, with an epicenter just 2km from the previous quake, according to Central Weather Bureau data.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The magnitude 5.1 quake, which struck at 4:24pm, was centered just off the coast of Yilan County 21.8km east of the Yilan County Government complex.
Its epicenter — the location where the earthquake begins — was 15.9km deep, bureau data showed.
The earthquake shook hardest in southern Yilan County — in Suao (蘇澳), Luodong (羅東) and Nanao (南澳) — with intensity levels of 4 on Taiwan’s 0-7 intensity scale, which measures the degree to which the Earth shakes at a particular location.
An intensity of 4 usually indicates buildings swaying and hanging objects swinging violently.
Parts of New Taipei City, Hualien County and Hsinchu County had intensities of 3, while an intensity of 2 was recorded in Taipei, the bureau said.
The magnitude 5.1 temblor was interpreted as an aftershock of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that shook Taiwan on Thursday morning, the bureau said.
A total of nine aftershocks in Yilan County had followed the bigger earthquake as of 5pm yesterday, the bureau said.
The magnitude 4 earthquake that struck at 4:43pm yesterday was centered 19.2km southeast of the Yilan County Government complex, while the magnitude 5.8 quake on Thursday was centered 19.7km southeast of the Yilan County Government complex at a depth of 17.5km.
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